First time on vinyl ever, remastered in 2023. Zeke- Live Tracks Uncensored LP. This LP shows Zeke live ... raw, wild, untamed and uncensored. If you’ve seen Zeke before, you know that these guys can be a total beast on stage. This LP offers a bunch of killer live recordings to make it sound like the band is playing in your kitchen: loud, fast and furious. You know that Zeke are the real purveyors of speed rock and roll and that can’t be better heard than here. The LP includes some of their best songs including tracks from ‘Super Sound Racing’, ‘Flat Tracker’, ‘Kicked in the Teeth’, ‘Dirty Sanchez’ and ‘Death Alley’ recorded in different venues from Seattle to Las Vegas to Minneapolis. One of the other special treats this LP offers is it includes two very rare studio tracks that are pretty hard to find. 26 tracks in all with top notch production. Genre: Alternative / Rock n Roll / Pun
First time on vinyl ever, remastered in 2023. Zeke- Live Tracks Uncensored LP. This LP shows Zeke live ... raw, wild, untamed and uncensored. If you’ve seen Zeke before, you know that these guys can be a total beast on stage. This LP offers a bunch of killer live recordings to make it sound like the band is playing in your kitchen: loud, fast and furious. You know that Zeke are the real purveyors of speed rock and roll and that can’t be better heard than here. The LP includes some of their best songs including tracks from ‘Super Sound Racing’, ‘Flat Tracker’, ‘Kicked in the Teeth’, ‘Dirty Sanchez’ and ‘Death Alley’ recorded in different venues from Seattle to Las Vegas to Minneapolis. One of the other special treats this LP offers is it includes two very rare studio tracks that are pretty hard to find. 26 tracks in all with top notch production. Genre: Alternative / Rock n Roll / Pun
-15 year anniversary and first time on vinyl with brand new artwork, including previously unseen pieces from the Tame One archive.
-Remixed and remastered audio for a fresh listening experience. -Featuring guest appearances from Sean Price and Del Tha Funky Homosapien - One half of legendary graffiti rap group The Artifacts. -140 gram black vinyl, matte flood jacket with spot uv, 12x12 double sided insert with black poly lined inner sleeves. Rough, rugged and raw. Nothing better describes one's listening experience when they first heard Tame One & Parallel Thoughts, “Ol Jersey Bastard”. It was 15 years ago when Tame One came to "The Paradigm", the recording studio of Freehold's own Parallel Thought. One session turned into two, then quickly turned into three, resulting in a twice-weekly recording ritual that spanned three years. This ritual would give birth not only to this album, but three (Acid Tab Vocab & Parallel Uni-Verses w/ Del Tha Funky Homosapien) instilling a lifelong creative partnership. But let's focus on "Ol Jersey Bastard," Tame One's homage to the almighty and original OL Dirty Bastard. It was not the cleanest record to listen to, but it was true to Tame One's style and vision. He was not constrained by working with a group or having to answer to a label. As a side note, Amalgam Digital, the joke of a label who originally released this album wouldn't let us follow through with our original artwork concept. So the new cover and layout created by close friend Michael Interrante is Tame’s original concept. We also were able to include original scans of unseen artwork, tags & lyrics from Tames archive. This was unfiltered raw hip-hop, showcasing Tame One's unparalleled ability on the mic. Sometimes that called for no hook or maybe a 54 bar verse, traditional song structures were out the window. That being said, coming back to this album all these years later as producers, we wanted to elevate the album's listening experience. We cleaned up the mixes, so you might notice Tame sounds a little clearer, or those beats might knock a bit louder. It was what was needed to further elevate the music while not compromising our and Tame’s vision. Further demonstrating that music is a living, breathing piece of art. Always able to evolve. We hope you enjoy it!
Texas born guitarist Melvin Sparks is one of the godfathers of Acid Jazz. He first came to prominence in the bands of Jack McDuff and Lou Donaldson, providing an essential element in their funky groove-based classics of the late 60s. He then became part of the Prestige Records funk team, under the tutelage of producer Bob Porter. He made his debut LP “Sparks”, for the label in 1970, alongside Idris Muhammad, Leon Spencer and Houston Person. Two further exciting albums appeared on the label with “Spark Plug” and “Akilah” and over a dozen side-man appearances.
When Porter left to set up Eastbound Records in Detroit - as part of Westbound Records - Sparks followed, recording his label debut "Texas Twister” in 1973. The following year, after Porter left, he recorded the album that became “’75” with some of the label’s top session players, including members of Funkadelic and vocalist Jimmy D Scott, who sang on ‘I Got To Have You’ and ‘If You Want My Love’. The nine tracks featured a slicker sound, that mirrored the contemporary soul jazz of the time and included club classics like 'Get Ya Some' and 'Get Down With The Get Down’.
Sparks began recording one more album for the label which languished in the vaults for decades and then mostly concentrated on session work before he was rediscovered by the acid jazz scene in the late 80s, and was brought over to Europe to tour as part of the BGP All-Stars and this late revival saw him record five further albums.
This is the first vinyl reissue of this album since 1975.
French label and promoter Much More recordings is proud to present the first vinyl our collection.
This vinyl features 6 tracks ranging from breaks to techno and passing by acid and electronica, designed for soundsystem and anchored in their proper original and analogic techno sound.
We believe that redefining the essence of the genre is now critical. After years of promoting parties in Paris and Europe, Much More has gathered artists considered to be the essence of techno. Artists who know how to turn knobs without screens.
They continue to make the mob sweat on the dance-floor, with a simple at first yet efficient recipe that holds a myriad of subtleties.
On our table lies a lemon slowly withering away, a fruit that once was as much suave than sour. Our artists are as ripe as this yellow sphere lying in the open. They possess the experience and knowledge needed to forcefully broadcast this emergency rebirth that techno desperately needs. Our creations are neither nostalgic nor futuristic, they aim to be atemporal. They are naked to artifices, raw to over-tuning, built and cut upon the very ageless tools that defined and will name what is Techno.
Far from us the desire of claiming to be the only definition of the genre, nor forgetting about its primal cravings. Whereas Amarou, Skudge and Sawlin showcast the narrative scope of our passion, Wrong Assessment, Arnaud le Texier and Falling Echoes will remind us what is raving under the strobe's fire.
It's music from urban centers and countrysides, for big room and inner space.
It's music without tag or time, where every loop stops and unfolds on its own.
We are back to the essence, and yet, much more.
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First impressions matter. Especially on a debut album. Time and attention-strapped listeners size up an artist within a song or two, then move on or delve in further. Fortunately, it only takes Margo Price about twenty-eight seconds to convince you that you’re hearing the arrival of a singular new talent. “Hands of Time,” the opener on Midwest Farmer’s Daughter, is an invitation, a mission statement and a starkly poetic summary of the 32-year old singer’s life, all in one knockout, self-penned punch. Easing in over a groove of sidestick, bass and atmospheric guitar, Price sings, “When I rolled out of town on the unpaved road, I was fifty-seven dollars from bein’ broke . . .” It has the feel of the first line of a great novel or opening scene in a classic film. There’s an expectancy, a brewing excitement. And as the song builds, strings rising around her, Price recalls hardships and heartaches – the loss of her family’s farm, the death of her child, problems with men and the bottle. There is no self-pity or over-emoting. Her voice has that alluring mix of vulnerability and resilience that was once the province of Loretta and Dolly. It is a tour-de-force performance that is vivid, deeply moving and all true. From the honky tonk comeuppance of “About To Find Out,” to the rockabilly-charged “This Town Gets Around” to the weekend twang of “Hurtin’ (On The Bottle)”, Price adds fresh twists to classic Nashville country, with a sound that could’ve made hits in any decade. Meanwhile, the hard-hitting blues grooves of “Four Years of Chances” and “Tennessee Song” push the boundaries further west to Memphis (the album was recorded at the legendary Sun Studio). • Hometown: Nashville • Recorded at Sun Studios
Originally released on Island Records in September 1998, the soundtrack to the box-office smash film, written and directed by Guy Ritchie, quickly became a must-own album, and is frequently cited as one of the best movie soundtracks of all time.
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels redefined the British gangster film and established Guy Ritchie as one of the greatest directing and writing talents of his generation. Using a frenetic mixture of filmic styles, humour, violence, breakdown of the fourth wall, narration, and vast amounts of swearing, it is hard to imagine a time when this film and its influence was not around. It made a star of the-then unknown Jason Statham, and, amazingly, hard man footballer Vinnie Jones, who as Big Chris, had several scene-stealing moments. Taking his cue from Quentin Tarantino, who had been meticulously curating his film soundtracks since the early 90s, Ritchie made the music to his film tell its own story, complete with memorable snatches of dialogue between many of the tracks.
It offers a beautifully eclectic selection of songs from the preceding three decades, plus then-current artists providing some of their best material, such as Hundred Mile High City by Ocean Colour Scene or E-Z Rollers' drum'n'bass masterpiece Walk This Land. Of the heritage tracks, Dusty Springfield sings her sultry take on Spooky; James Brown appears twice with The Boss and The Payback; The Stooges with I Wanna Be Your Dog, and two versions of Pete Wingfield's masterful one-hit-wonder 18 With A Bullet; in its 1975 original and a contemporary cover by Lewis Taylor and Carleen Anderson. And this is only half of it.
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Borrowed Tongue is the debut solo album by Korean singer-songwriter Minhwi Lee. It’s a mysterious, strangely compelling thing, an album of rare poetry, and remarkably self-assured. Originally released in November 2016, the album made waves, winning best folk album of 2016 at the 14th Korean Music Awards. Its eight songs, written and predominantly arranged by Lee, don’t reveal their secrets easily, or at first blush; rather, they take their time slowly to unfurl in her listeners’ worlds. There are hints of other music here, from time to time: the intimacy of Stina Nordenstam, perhaps; the gauzy haze of Hope Sandoval, on the blissed-out pop of “Broken Mirror”; there are touches of acid-folk, and ECM jazz, and a slyly filmic approach to songwriting and arrangement that makes every song fit perfectly into the album’s arc.
Lee arrived at her solo music through a complex, circuitous route. After studying musicology in Seoul, she learned her trade, film scoring, in New York and Paris. She also studied classical music, blowing off steam in a wild punk duo, Mukimukimanmansu, who released one album, 2012, on Korean indie label Beatball. Subsequently, Lee has been refining her music, focusing both on her solo songs, and on writing for television series and films; she’s written scores for films by such directors as Sangmoon Lee, Jeongwon Kam, and Wanmin Lee. She also plays in the jazz outfit Cubed, and recently joined doom metal group Gawthrop on bass.
Since its release in 2016, Borrowed Tongue has slowly bewitched listeners with its idiosyncratic arrangements and evocative songwriting. It’s an album that hints at plenty, but refuses to make grand statements, something Lee seems intent to pursue: in correspondence, she’s very clear that she wants these songs to enact a kind of transmutation, to be adopted into the listeners’ lives and exist within their own imaginings. She does, however, offer a few hints to what propels these mercurial songs, explaining, “this album is about a person who again opens their mouth, which was once shut. The album deals with what it means to speak: things that are known but not said, things that should be said but are not, things that cannot be said but nonetheless are.”
This may well explain the curious mood of Borrowed Tongue, the multiple ‘voices’ that inhabit the album; Lee’s singing voice is pliable and mutable, approaching each song as its own diorama and ensuring the song is sung with just the right tone. The arrangements Lee conjures for her songs are all in service to narrative and melody; they appear to her alongside the composition, which is surely why everything here fits together so beautifully. From there, Lee approaches her songs carefully, in deference to their ‘need to be sung’ a certain way. There isn’t a moment wasted: everything on Borrowed Tongue is as it needs to be, whether a melancholy folk song taking to the air, or a psychedelic reverie dreamed into being. It’s a beautiful, poised and confident debut.
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She may be making her first appearance on NuNorthern Soul, but Zeynep Erbay is no newcomer. A classically trained pianist who took a turn towards the dancefloor while at university, the Turkish DJ/producer earned her first release on Compost Records way back in 2007 after taking part in 2006’s Red Bull Music Academy programme. Since then, her career has been on an upwards trajectory, with releases on Fools Gold and Soul Clap Records confirming Erbay as a genuine rising star of underground electronic music.
On the Healer EP, the Istanbul-based producer showcases the more atmospheric, sun-kissed end of her productions, taking a turn away from synth-powered, disco-leaning club tracks towards something more suitable for al-fresco events, sun-down sets, and sofa-bound listening sessions.
Inspired by a poem inscribed on the back cover of the EP, Erbay’s two original instrumental tracks simply ooze with emotion. The poem tells the story of a whale searching for her family while helping others along the way, which acts as a metaphor for our wider search for belonging and acceptance.
This aural narrative unfolds firstly across ‘Heart of a Healer’, a slowly unfurling stunner in which emotion-rich chords, gentle electronic melodies and Erbay’s poignant and picturesque piano motifs, gently rise above a chunky dub disco bassline and mid-tempo, triple-time drums.
Delving further, the effortlessly emotional, life-affirming composition ‘Healer Whale’, where Erbay’s impeccable piano playing ushers in languid, jazz-flecked drums, dubby bass, sumptuous synth-strings and colourful, slow-moving chords.
On remix dutires, NYC-based Italian Danilo Braca, who also mastered the release, provides a fine club-focused fix of ‘Heart of a Healer’, laced with crunchy machine drums and undulating TB-303 acid lines. NuNorthern Soul regular Marshall Watson handles ‘Healer Whale’, first delivering a fine ‘Remix’ version that effortlessly blurs the boundary between dub disco and Balearic nu-disco, before serving up a shorter, ambient ‘Reprise’ version.
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Summer’s here with Limbic Resonance ‘s first vinyl release giving a strong impression of our exploration into the darker sides of electronic music & ambient soundfields.
Spread over 13 tracks by pioneering artists, established current acts, upcoming new faces and under the radar mavericks, LDRR is a sound canvas representing LR ongoing interest in unpredictable & undertow sounds & atmospheres.
Compiled by Alexandra Ismalone
Limbic Resonance is a platform set up by Jeroen Lauwers (Red Stars Over Tokyo, Hot Hair Records, Testtoon), Alexandra Ismalone (Alekzandra/CPR) & Tobias Lisius (Liziuz, CPR) bringing together their solo and cooperative output.
LR conjures a sound that paradoxically traverses dark & light, a wave of dark ambient music punctured by rays of light sculpted w/ lush loops, heartbeat pulses & psychedelic electronics. Their vision is abstract primitivism and modern romanticism bypassing the artificial modern day present, a soothing meditative space w/ indefinable mysterious undertones.
Creating a “beyond logic” world & vision that melts smothered spectral ghostlike dreampop soundfields with unbound dark occult ceremony exercises. A cross pollination of two universes where space and time confront themselves and will be burned down within the ritualistic circle, the remaining void filled with warmth and sparkles, detached from their original source, a rebirth of natural primitivism.
RITUAL MUSIC AND URBAN SURVIVAL STRATEGIES
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The Eighteen Minute Gap lets you embark on a mysterious journey into a world of ethereal ambient music, where beautiful and soothing listening experiences await. Using field recordings and manipulating textures and sounds, Sonmi451 creates minimal yet tantalizing soundscapes, filled with intimate whispering voices.
Since 2005 Bernard Zwijzen is creating his own blend of minimal, soundscape-laden atmospheric electronics under the moniker Sonmi451 (a character from David Mitchell's novel "Cloud Atlas"), based in Hasselt, Belgium. He has been previously released on labels such as : U-Cover, Slaapwel Records, Time Released Sounds, Eilean Rec. and this is his second album on LAAPS. "The Eighteen Minute Gap" is his thirteenth releases.
Sonmi451 uses various soft- and hardware synths and samplers to create a truly unique and immersive audio experience where one is captivated by mystery and intrigue and immersed in a world of mysterious sounds where boundaries between reality and imagination begin to blur.
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First-ever vinyl repress of her classic 1982 fan-favourite album, third in a series of remastered vinyls of her 1980s albums, and part of Cherry Red’s on-going re-issue campaign of the star’s EMI catalogue in association with RT Industries.
Remastered from the original master tapes and pressed on green coloured vinyl with refreshed artwork including new inner sleeve.
Includes the singles ‘Machinery’, ‘Are You Man Enough’ and ‘I Wouldn’t Beg For Water’ as well as her original recording of ‘Wind Beneath My Wings.’
Sheena Easton rocketed to overnight fame in 1980 with the BBC broadcast of ‘The Big Time’ – arguably the first pop reality show – subsequently breaking records with her first two singles ‘Modern Girl’ and ‘9 To 5’ simultaneously hitting the UK Top Ten. Within a year, she had topped the US Hot 100 with the renamed ‘Morning Train (Nine To Five)’, recorded the Bond theme ‘For Your Eyes Only’, released two platinum-selling albums and become an international sensation.1982 proved another whirlwind year for Sheena – beginning with her ‘Best New Artist’ win at the Grammies, followed by first national US tour, the recording of her first TV special ‘Live At The Palace, Hollywood’ and capped with the release of her third album
– the aptly-titled ‘Madness, Money and Music’. Produced by Christopher Neil, the album ranged from the hyperkinetic new wave-infused ‘Machinery’ via the smooth west coast yacht rock of ‘There When I Needed You’ to classic, Streisand-style balladry on the top 20 AC hit ‘I Wouldn’t Beg For Water.’ It also included one of the earliest recordings of the classic ‘Wind Beneath My Wings’.
The latest by Canadian composer Tim Hecker serves as a beacon of unease against the deluge of false positive corporate ambient currently in vogue.
Whether taken as warning or promise, No Highs delivers – this is music of austerity and ambiguity, purgatorial and seasick. A jagged anti-relaxant for our medicated age, rough-hewn and undefined.
Morse code pulse programming flickers like distress signals while a gathering storm of strings, noise, and low-end looms in the distance. Processed electronics shiver and shudder against pitch-shifting assemblages of crackling voltage, mantric horns (including exquisite modal sax by Colin Stetson), and cathedral keys.
Throughout, the pieces both accrue and avoid drama, more attuned to undertow than crescendo. Hecker mentions “negation” as a muse of sorts – the sense of tumult without bombast, tethered ecstasies, an escape from escapism. His is an antagonism both brusque and beguiling, devoid of resolution, beckoning the listener ever deeper into its greyscale alchemies of magisterial disquiet.
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Irish DJ and producer, Ben Prophet, has caught the attention of some of the electronic scene’s most influential names in recent years. Currently residing in the underground music hub of Newcastle, his dark and exhilarating tracks have proven to captivate dancefloors. Now the artist is set to embark on his most monumental release to date, with the four track EP ‘From Dusk’. Staying distinctly true to himself, the EP channels Prophet’s love for bassline, electronica, and techno, whilst placing a key focus on mechanical vocals that add a mind-bending element that listeners can get lost in. ‘From Dusk’ will be released to the world via HAAi and Alice Pelly’s Radical New Theory label, a proven base for projecting emerging talent.
‘From Dusk’ is an EP that serves as a bold declaration. Prophet was determined to take listeners on a journey across the four tracks. Never resting on his laurels, the artist ventured into many corners of the dance world, whilst maintaining a core signature sound. Opener ‘Telepathy’ Sees Prophet build an emphatic, heavy hitting techno track, centring around a manipulated spoken-word vocal. It’s a sound that holds nothing back and is showcased again on ‘Down The Rabbit Hole’. Equally dark in its design, Prophet once more places distorted vocals at the forefront, this time displaying an industrial take on breakbeat. On the flip side, we see ‘Ocarina’ and title track ‘From Dusk’ turn the dark energy on its head with a distinctly melodic approach which adds a touch of psychedelia and high emotion to the EP. What’s clear is there’s something on ‘From Dusk’ for anyone that loves club music.
Speaking on the release, Prophet states:“HAAi has been one of the biggest inspirations for my sound, so to have become friends and to release my music on her label Radical New Theory is a massive moment for me. I’ve taken a different approach on each track, but each has my signature sound and is ready for the dance floor.”
HAAi also offers an insight into why she wanted to release ‘From Dusk’ on Radical New Theory: “Ben Prophet’s tracks have such a driving force and a dark energy to them, which is so powerful in the club. I’m extremely excited to get this record out in the world.”
Prophet’s previous releases ‘Hyper Funk EP’ and ‘King Of Rock’ on Chapeau music and Happy Wax Records respectively reached dancefloors across the world with regular plays from the likes of Mall Grab, Skream and VTSS. His gritty and energetic productions are born for the peak-time dance floor where its power creates intoxicating effects. No longer a hidden gem of the North East, the artist's music has gathered serious momentum and ‘From Dusk’ might well be the record that makes Ben Prophet a household name.
‘From Dusk’ is the third release on Radical New Theory, a label created in 2020 by HAAi and Alice Pelly which aims to shine a light on unique emerging talent, and the inevitable stars of tomorrow. Last year the label released LUXE’s debut ‘Belonging EP’ which was championed by MaryAnn Hobbs on BBC 6Music, and the artist has since gone on to tour across Europe. Whilst Ozzy, who released the labels first record ‘Een’, has since released on Barnt’s Schalen imprint. Radical New Theory was born out of a love for the craft of dance music and the careful consideration of what they release ensures the highest standards. A safe space for emerging talent, be sure to keep your eyes out for what comes next from the label
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More lost recordings of landyhill (Timex Social Club) Bay area funk featuring Jamie Vallo on vocals, previously unreleased. PPU is slowly making its way through the depths of demos, more coming soon.
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After the release of "3.3 magnitude" and the remixes of the single "1.3 HDG" unveiled last February, H3 Records continues its musical exploration between rap and electronic music with a new release, "Music 4 Tesla".
This time, rapper Kaba joins forces with producer Hyas and unveils a slender and festive 6-track track, true to the label's identity.
Hyas started producing music in 2017 and released his first projects completely independently. Today, he has more than twenty releases on labels such as 99CTS and Casa Voyager. The Lyon native, resident of Le Sucre and Rinse FM, has a string of dates and festivals in France and abroad and founded his own label Bardouin Music in 2020.
For his part, Kaba has released three singles this year, including two featuring Karmen (formerly Tortoz) and Samy Ceezy, and a 10-track "Long Story Short", a joint project with the young beatmaker Keno.
The connection between the two artists was very natural: the rapper's ambitions and Hyas' influences complemented each other and led to a first draft of tracks, convincing enough to form the basis of a joint project. With influences from UK Garage, Acid House, Ghetto House and 2step, "Music 4 Tesla" is a high-flying, catchy, danceable, warm and sunny project. Throughout the tracks, Kaba borrows incisive old school flows (like on "4daMob") but also "DMV" (overlap flows where the phrases overlap like on "Original G") and enriches the musical universe of the project, which carries in it this fever of H3 Records' sounds.
Between pervasive house influences and bouncy bass, borrowed from funk sounds, "Music 4 Tesla" depicts throughout its 20 minutes a captivating gradation of festive ambiences, and proves again that the marriage of rap and house is definitely made to last.
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More from the vaults of Alpha and Omega in the shape of `Shashamane’, previously an LP-only track appearing on the `Voice in the Wilderness’ LP in 1996, with the dub cut on vinyl for first time.
As always from A&O, they reliably unleash a heavy-weight, mystical shimmering slice of 90’s style dub.
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Revered house mainstay Junior Sanchez makes his debut on Carl Craig’s renowned Planet E Communications imprint today with the digital release of his latest EP ‘‘Art O Fact’ out now with a 12” to come this July. Hailing from New Jersey, Sanchez remains a pioneering force in house music for over three decades and a close ally of Craig’s.
‘Art O Fact’ is an exemplar of the energized rhythm and infectious groove that has become synonymous with Sanchez’s work and genre defining productions. The package seamlessly connects scenes and eras, paying homage to the soulful sonic atmosphere of Detroit, Junior Sanchez’s says:
“Art O Fact -- was created purely and simply out of creative inspiration. I walked into the studio one morning not really knowing what to do, so I let my inspiration guide me and my inspiration really was Detroit. I thought about that city, what it meant to me and what techno really meant to my heart. I have loved so many records by Carl Craig, DJ ROLANDO, Derrick May, Kevin Saunderson and Juan Atkins, so the result is something really beautiful and organic, and the fact that it's coming out on Carl Craig's planet E imprint is such an honor.”
In addition to the original mix, the ‘Art O Fact’ EP features a bouncy ‘Luv4Detroit’ Dub, energized edit, and melodic reprise.
Sanchez’s eclectic palette can be credited in part to his time spent in the sonic melting pot of New York City in the 1990s. A pillar of the underground club scene, Junior Sanchez began DJing at iconic New York City institutions such as Limelight and Club USA at the mere age of 13 and released his first track on iconic house imprint Strictly Rhythm at age 15. Sanchez went on to co-found Da Mongaloids collective, composed of the likes of Daft Punk, Armand van Helden, LaidbackLuke, and more which laid the foundation for him to form multi-generational turntablism trio S-Men alongside Roger Sanchez and DJ Sneak.
Sanchez's extensive repertoire of collaborators includes Madonna, Ariana Grande, Good Charlotte, Azealia Banks and more while his own imprints Cube Recordings and Brobot Records have seen releases from the likes of Felix Da Housecat, Sébastien Léger, and Steve Mac.
Led by legendary Detroit techno pioneer Carl Craig, Planet E Communications has been an integral force in shaping electronic music for the past thirty years. Standing testament to the timeless spirit of techno, over the past two years alone Carl has released the leftfield ‘Attenuator’ jazz fusion project from himself and Moritz Von Oswald, DJ Holographic’s multi-genre Detroit Love Vol. 5, and the first electronic music album from Mexican-American percussionist Francisco Mora-Catlett. Planet E continues to transcend the dance floor, as it perpetuates the unifying spirit and unwavering creativity of Detroit.
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King Arthur: Legend of the Sword is a 2017 fantasy film directed by Guy Ritchie and is loosely based on the Arthurian Legends. The film stars Charlie Hunnam as the title character, and co-stars Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey, Djimon Hounsou, Aidan Gillen, Jude Law and football star David Beckham. The film follows Arthur, who is robbed of his birthright and comes up the hard way in the back alleys of the city. But once he pulls the sword from the stone, he is forced to acknowledge his true legacy - whether he likes it or not.
The score is written and produced by Daniel Pemberton, an English Ivor Novello Award-winning, Golden Globe Award and multi-BAFTA Award-nominated composer. The soundtrack features Mercury Prize winner and folk musician Sam Lee.
Timeless is regularly cited as one of the greatest dance music albums ever made., a Dark Side of the Moon for the rave generation. As Tony Marcus, writing in Mixmag back in 1995, concluded: "Timeless is a record that couldn't have been made if it wasn't for the party, the MDMA, the noise and the rage. Timeless tells you that you can't ignore or erase this history because to Goldie, and to so many others, it holds their lives, dreams and feelings."
Timeless went on to become a landmark release not just for Drum 'n' Bass but for electronic music as a whole. Within a year of its release (1995), it had racked up more than 100,000 sales. Now sees the release of TIMELESS THE REMIXES, featuring hand-picked remixes by Goldie from the likes of Break, Doc Scott, Teebee, 4 Hero, Trevino and many more.
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The English-Irish electronic/dance duo Moloko released their first album Do You Like My Tight Sweater? in 1995.
It’s one of their most experimental records, before moving on to a more mainstream approach. Roisin Murphy is carrying the album with her versatile vocals, both in range and style, while Mark Brydon created the breakbeats, sound effects and groovy disco lines.
This is electronica at its best, danceable and funky.
The album includes their hits ““Fun for Me” and “Dominoid”, besides fan favourites like “Day for Night” and “Where Is the What If the What Is in Why?”. They never slow down in their exiting music and absurd lyrics, but that’s exactly what makes this record unforgettable.
Pure joy to be danced on all night.
Do You Like My Tight Sweater? is available as a limited edition of 3000 numbered copies on turquoise vinyl.
Penguin Cafe kündigen heute ihr fünftes Studioalbum Rain Before Seven... an, das am 7.Juli 2023 bei Erased Tapes erscheinen wird.
Eine zuversichtliche Grundstimmung durchzieht das fünfte Studioalbum von Penguin Cafe, Rain Before Seven…, wobei es sich keinesfalls um jenen extrem selbstbewussten, fast schon prahlerischen Optimismus handelt, sondern eher um so eine auf bescheidene Art hoffnungsvolle Grundhaltung, die man den Menschen auf der Insel ja häufiger nachsagt. Auch wenn alle Anzeichen das Gegenteil behaupten, spürt man hier sofort diese Gewissheit, dass sich alles doch noch irgendwie zum Guten wenden wird. Vermutlich zumindest.
Der Titel des Albums geht auf eine alte Bauernregel zurück, wobei die gereimte Vorhersage – „… fine before eleven“: ab 11 Uhr also wieder alles klar – auf ein baldiges gutes Ende hindeutet, vollkommen unabhängig davon, was die Wissenschaft sagt: „Ich habe diesen Spruch in einem Buch entdeckt. Davor hatte ich ihn noch nie gehört“, erzählt Arthur Jeffes, der Kopf von Penguin Cafe. „Er hat so einen dezent optimistischen Beigeschmack, und das gefällt mir sehr. Man verwendet ihn heutzutage kaum noch, aber der Reim beschreibt tatsächlich Wetterphänomene in England, die vom Atlantik aus über die Insel ziehen.“
Angefangen beim leinwandgroßen und schwärmerischen Eröffnungstitel „Welcome to London“, der mit einem Augenzwinkern auf Morricone anspielt, bis hin zum „Goldfinch Yodel“, jenem „Maibaum-Banger“ (um es mit Arthurs Worten zu sagen), mit dem das neue Album ausklingt, zieht sich ein angenehmes Gefühl von Leichtigkeit und Lebensmut durch den Longplayer, unterfüttert mit der Ausgelassenheit exotischer Rhythmen. Alles wirkt spielerisch und verspielt, und selbst der Titel ist eine Anspielung – auf A Matter of Life… aus dem Jahr 2011, der letzten Veröffentlichung, deren Titel in eine Ellipse mündete Jenes Debütalbum von Penguin Cafe diente einst als Bindeglied und Brücke – zwischen dem legendären Penguin Cafe Orchestra, das einst Arthurs Vater Simon Jeffes leitete, und dem gefeierten Nachfolger, als dessen Mastermind seither Arthur verantwortlich zeichnet.
„Ich glaube, das wirklich Neue an seinem Ansatz bestand darin, spannende und schräge Ideen zu nehmen – und dann seltsame Dinge damit anzustellen“, meint Arthur, „dabei aber konstant im Blick zu haben, dass es hinterher auch schön klingt und emotional ansprechend bleibt.“ Dieses Ethos lebt weiter in der Musik von Penguin Cafe: „Dazu haben wir uns entschlossen, als ich daran anknüpfte, schließlich spielen wir die Sachen meines Vaters und machen dazu auch neue Musik, die im selben Klanguniversum angesiedelt ist. Das bedeutet, dass ich gewissermaßen moralisch dazu verpflichtet bin, den ursprünglichen roten Faden im Auge zu behalten – und dafür zu sorgen, dass wir nicht plötzlich in Richtung Thrash-Metal abbiegen.“
Dennoch waren die rhythmischen Elemente, die zum Teil sogar an elektronische Sounds erinnern, noch nie so präsent und tonangebend wie auf Rain Before Seven…, was durchaus auch dem Co-Produzenten Robert Raths geschuldet ist. „Find Your Feet“ etwa hat ein Beat-Fundament, das weit über einen bloßen Pulsschlag hinausgeht. Abgemischt von Tom Chichester-Clark, blitzt an Stellen wie diesen etwas auf, das Arthur selbst als „fast schon elektronischen Vibe“ bezeichnet, um dann ganz aufgeregt zu ergänzen: „Es geht vor allem auch einfach ums Spaßhaben, was auf den letzten drei Alben nicht so zu hören war.” Extrem ausgelassen klingt auch „In Re Budd“, das dem verstorbenen Ambient-Urgestein Harold Budd gewidmet ist. Arthur erfuhr von dessen Tod an jenem Tag, als er diesen feierlichen Ohrwurm komponierte, dessen Synkopen deutlich komplexer sind, als sie auf den ersten Blick wirken. Auf einem präparierten Klavier gespielt, wobei die Filzstücke dem Track zusätzlichen Bounce verleihen, setzt Jeffes hier auf einen Afro Cuban Cafe-Vibe – was wunderbar zum widerspenstigen Geist des verstorbenen Budd passt.
Und schließlich wäre da noch das bereits erwähnte „Welcome to London“, das seinen Titel erhielt, als sich die Welt gerade wieder zu öffnen begann und die Menschen auch wieder Fernreisen antreten durften. Jeffes, der somit nach langer Zeit endlich wieder einen Fuß auf britischen Boden setzen konnte, war sofort beeindruckt von filmischen Soundtrack-Qualitäten (à la John Barry) dieses Stücks, als er mit dem Taxi von Heathrow nach West-London fuhr und zur Musik die opulente, in Dämmerungslicht getauchte Metropolenkulisse auf sich wirken ließ. Hier kann man deutlich die eingangs erwähnte Zuversicht raushören – und dazu vielleicht auch einen Hauch von bissiger Ironie: „Robert Raths hat der Sache noch eine Nuance hinzugefügt, die ich interessant finde, weil doch so viele Londoner ursprünglich gar nicht aus London stammen. Man schlägt also in London als Zugezogener auf, man weiß noch nicht, zu welchem Lager man sich zugehörig fühlen soll, und dann wird man auf der Straße überfallen und ausgeraubt – und in dem Licht betrachtet, hat dieses ‘Welcome to London’ doch einen eher sarkastischen Beigeschmack.“
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As its now tradition we start the year with yet another fluid album from Portuguese pianist and composer Tiago Sousa.
Presenting now the second volume of his ongoing series »Organic Music Tapes«, Tiago now adds the electric organ to his trademark piano compositions, broadening his palette of sounds into an even more fluid and organic world with references to American minimalism of the 60’s, in particular Terry Riley and Steve Reich’s influence both looms heavily over these pieces
The piano still takes centre stage here but the organ opens both sides of the album like a statement of intention… the compositions take a nebulae type state, floating eternally over stars and planets, with their indefinite and indeterminate contours, never settling and never leaving.
Music as organic matter, like water, sand, stars or nebulae. Tiago translates complex patterns into transcendental experiences to our ears whilst cementing further his place as one of the most distinct voices to emerge out of the modern wellspring of piano driven minimalism.
An incredible 45 of Latin disco – recorded in Peru during the late 70s by funk pioneers Black Sugar, and right up there with the best from New York and LA of that era! It’s taken over four decades 'Baila' to become a winner spin at international events in the soul and disco scenes, a sought-after collector's item and, above all, the dancefloor hit that should have always been. First time reissue. Black Sugar is a Peruvian band, considered a pioneer group in Latin America in mixing funk influences with rock and Latin rhythms. In 1976, following their gig at Coliseo Amauta in Lima, opening the night for the legendary Spanish band Barrabás, they started to show a growing interest in disco music, resulting in some line up changes with members leaving the project due to their lack of interest in the new sound and new ones joining in. Word is that Sono Radio, home to a bunch of local Tamla MoTown releases for the Peruvian market, thought that Black Sugar's prestige, and their credibility in the new orientation towards disco sound, would benefit from seeing their new single pressed with the labels of the famous record company from Detroit. And so it was. Under certain lights and shadows, ‘Baila’ was finally released in Peru only in 1978, sporting the same look as the releases of the likes of Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross, Commodores or Thelma Houston. A clever marketing ploy that however failed in boosting the sales of the single…Only a few original copies have survived to this day, of either the first and the second edition from 1979 released on the US label Libra, and reached the collectors market. It’s now, over four decades later, when the interest on this recording has gone stronger and ‘Baila’ is getting regular spins at international soul/disco scene events, having become a very sought-after collectors item and, on top of that, the dance floor anthem that should have always been. The stunning piano arrangements of the intro, the outstanding brass sections —faithfully copied from the disco recordings coming from the States—, a very catchy chorus… ‘Baila’ has all the necessary ingredients to become an addictive invitation to join the dance floor. On the B side, a cover version of Barry White’s hit ‘Sha La La (Means I Love You)’ —as appeared on the original issue of this record— shows what the interest of the band was at the time. First time reissue. TRACKLIST Side A Baila Side B Sha La La (Means I Love You)
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Throughout 2022, The Wedding Present’s ‘24 Songs’ series saw the legendary indie band release two new tracks a month as double A sided 7”s, ultimately creating a much-sought-after box set. David Gedge has now re-curated full-length versions of all twenty-four tracks for a new compilation album that will also comprise five bonus recordings including one featuring The Wedding Present’s first guitarist, Peter Solowka.
‘24 Songs’ was a doff of the cap to The Wedding Present’s ‘Hit Parade’ project of 30 years previous. That series proved to be a real milestone for the band with them becoming only the second-ever artist to achieve twelve Official UK Top 40 hits in a calendar year – at the time something that only Elvis had achieved!
David Gedge says: “When it came to compiling the ‘24 Songs’ album, I decided not to sequence the tracks in chronological order. With six sides of vinyl, you have six ‘beginnings’ and six ‘ends’ to play with, and I felt that the opportunity to build some kind of a musical journey was too good to miss! Listening back to this collection, I have to say that I genuinely believe that, for this project, The Wedding Present have recorded some of the best tracks in our history. I loved releasing the singles, but it’s satisfying to have them all rounded up together.”
“The idea of releasing another collection of twenty-four tracks did initially seem quite daunting,” admits David Gedge in the deluxe-CD sleeve notes but, with Jon Stewart (also of Sleeper) having joined the band at the end of 2019 and their subsequent writing partnership flourishing, he began to feel confident that they would be able to produce a year’s worth of music. And, with one of the UK’s most influential independent record labels by their side in Clue, a key partner to EMI North who will be distributing the record - there was no looking back.
[xa] 27. Jump In, The Water’s Fine [Japanese Edit]
[xb] 28. We All Came From The Sea [Utah Saints Remix]
Tricatel is proud to release for the first time on vinyl the reissue of this album released in 2001. It is a single vinyl with a printed sub-sleeve containing vintage studio photos.
Inspired by Barthes, who wrote that the resistance would probably be one day in the affirmation of happiness, I wanted to write a happy record, so happy that it would be a provocation.
So I wanted to sing about love in the naive and poetic language that Portuguese is for me. It is the language of secrecy and modesty, of sensuality and eroticism.
So we recorded Azul in the offices/studios of Tricatel in four days. With the Recyclers (Steve Arguëlles, Benoit Delbecq, Christophe Minck), we created these versions on the spot and on ADAT tape for a budget of thirty thousand francs. It is, until now, my album which travelled the most, and which found the most aficionados.
This reissue for the first time on vinyl, almost 23 years later, fills me with joy.
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Futurismo are proud to present a first time reissue of the killer 1985 album: Just A Million Dreams by the uncompromising Alan Vega.
The remastered version of this LP comes with two unreleased bonus tracks produced by Liz Lamere and Jared Artaud of The Vacant Lots. It is packaged in a gloss laminated sleeve with a huge fold-out poster and contains new liner notes by Henry Rollins.
Presented in a remastered deluxe vinyl package, Just A Million Dreams, produced by Ric Ocasek and Chris Lord-Alge, takes Vega on an expedition into new territory. As an artist Vega had a crucial drive, but having a hit record was never a motive, neither was pandering to expectations, which is why Just a Million Dreams is perhaps a perfect statement for that moment, bettering the then bastions of MTV rock without even trying, an exercise in subversion that still has Vega’s unique artistry at its core. Would you expect anything less from one half of NYC legends Suicide? Perhaps not, but the hows and whys to Vega landing himself in such a mainstream position are perhaps just as fascinating as the record itself.
Here Alan Vega’s vocals sound better than ever, full of emotion and brooding honesty. Lyrics painting images of dystopian love might be a sideways move away from the intense nihilism of his past, but it’s still the real deal. Alan Vega could not be anything else. Listen to tracks like ‘Creation’ and you still get that raw emotion he spent his career honing. Set against the grandeur of mid 80’s production: big processed drums, runaway guitar solos, we get a rare peak into what Vega would sound like if he was allowed to be a rock star drenched in the sonic excesses of the era. It was a brave and unfairly misunderstood move, but the components come together to form an incredible anti-commercial, commercial album. Just A Million Dreams is the sound of Alan Vega taking on the 1980’s and winning.
With help of the official Vega Vault, two never before heard tracks have been unearthed from the 1985 JAMD recording sessions and brought to life by long time collaborator Liz Lamere and Jared Artaud of The Vacant Lots, adding a new insight to the recordings. Henry Rollins also lends a new written perspective, making this release a vital addition to the collections of Alan Vega and Suicide fans. It has been said that Alan Vega is forever, his unwavering artistic approach can be witnessed throughout his career, whether as part of Suicide or as a solo songwriter, poet or sculptor. Just a Million Dreams is just another example
Western Massachusetts band Landowner play abrasively clean minimalist-punk. Singer Dan Shaw began Landowner in 2016, writing and recording Impressive Almanac with a practice amp and a laptop drum machine. Those available tools would inform the band’s unapologetic sound—clean, confrontational, and absurdly stark. With a stated goal to sound like “Antelope playing Discharge”, Landowner’s diamond hard structures, repetitious instrumentals and caricatured hardcore make space for lyrics that reflect on the global systems our lives are tangled in and the dark absurdities we take for granted.
Landowner’s fourth Born Yesterday full length Escape the Compound focuses on the powerful grips manipulators and reality-deniers have on their victims, examining the social, political and interpersonal damage of cult-like influence and control. “A lot of the lyrics focus on cult manipulators and narcissists: falling victim to their toxic dynamics, and the difficulty of escaping their grip” says Shaw. From climate change deniers and conspiracy theorists to deceptive narcissists and actual cult leaders, Landowner explores the ubiquity of modern unreality through evocative imagery and a keen sense of awareness. The band’s plain instrumentation sheds and subverts hardcore punk’s noisy veil in favor of a direct, unswerving examination of these themes.
Written and recorded following the release of 2020’s Consultant, Escape the Compound finds Landowner leaning into the studio through deeper experimentation with a wider palette of sounds. The group’s lineup of Josh Owsley (bass), Elliot Hughes (guitar), Jeff Gilmartin (guitar), Josh Daniel (drums) and Dan Shaw played often since coming together in 2017. But with pandemic restrictions in place, the making of Escape the Compound became a much more insular pursuit, one where the mixing and mastering process helped turn the band’s most varied batch of material into a cohesive, thematic collection of songs.
Album opener “Witch Museum” is a collage of dark Massachusetts historical imagery. The song evokes a kind of cult dynamic travelling like a shadow through time, where dark absurdities are taken for granted, toxic behaviours are excused, and normalcy begins to shift. The line “Gail's behaviour has changed” casts fictional “Gail” as the dark manipulator, whose whim we’re at the mercy of. She sheds her toxic behaviour and the crisis finally ends - “and peace returns to the Commonwealth”- an absurdity, given that cult leaders and narcissists rarely seem to change.
By considering the past, Landowner sheds light on the present. The band challenges egomaniacs reluctant to accept an uncomfortable reality with both cynicism and concern. The literal landowner described in “Heat Stroke” collapses in exhaustion, cooked by a suffocating bass line and sizzling hi-hats. “You'd rather die of heat stroke than to let anybody see you change your mind,” Shaw gasps, later pleading with the character in “Floodwatch” to “please reconsider” their brazen stubbornness as they plunge through the rising waters of a flooded road.
The character in “Swimmer of Note” refuses to admit their miscalculations, instead doubling down on an ever-growing and increasingly-unsteady tower of lies. The sneering “Damning Evidence” sets a scene all too familiar: a smoking gun scenario with zero consequences. Shaw’s exaggerated vocal refrains and sarcastic inflections mock false hope: “how will they be expected to keep their minds intact, at the shock of simply hearing such damning evidence?”
“Beyond the Darkened Library” creaks open a secret passageway into a dimly lit, endless labyrinth of conspiracy theories, in which the character becomes hopelessly lost. “Aftermath” sounds the alarms: “stare so long that you start getting used to it; one glance says you should never get used to it.” The pair of “Tactics” tracks express what Shaw calls “an interpersonal microcosm of the album’s themes.”
Perhaps the most ambitious arc on Escape the Compound loosely begins with the title track. The subject in “Escape the Compound” gradually recognizes their own victimhood and plans a calculated flight from the “captivating shepherd” – hop the fence, flee, and regain autonomy. As the narrator escapes their stifling and abusive cult microcosm, a much grander existential timeline begins to appear. “Thousands of Years in Fast Forward” narrates a psychedelic surrender to the shared human experience through space and time, an ego-death adjacent to our ancestry, our own existence, and the before and after. “At the site of the crater, molecular hands unclasp molecular hands as you lose conditioning,” Shaw sings on the title track, “Your grandmother's garden. Your grandmother's kitchen. Your grandmother's primordial ocean.” It’s a profound actualizing glimpse into a true, forgotten reality and a startling reconnection with the self.
1985 war das Jahr, in dem der Grundstein für die Karriere einer Band gelegt wurde, die auch fast 35 Jahre danach noch genau so aktiv ist, wie am ersten Tag. Die Rede ist natürlich von RAGE, die zunächst 1984 als AVENGER gestartet sind, bevor es dann zur Umbenennung kam.
Nun werden die legendären Alben der Herner Metal-Legende mit etlichen bisher unveröffentlichten Titeln auf Doppel-LPs neu veröffentlicht.
„Reflections Of A Shadow“ (1990) gilt bis heute als eines der am meisten unterschätzten Alben der Band. Die Neuauflage enthält neben dem regulären Album, die Titel der damaligen EP "Extended Power" und etliche unveröffentlichte Bonus-Titel, die aus der Aufnahme-Session des Albums stammen. Ein absolutes Muss für alle RAGE-Heads!
Western Massachusetts band Landowner play abrasively clean minimalist-punk. Singer Dan Shaw began Landowner in 2016, writing and recording Impressive Almanac with a practice amp and a laptop drum machine. Those available tools would inform the band’s unapologetic sound—clean, confrontational, and absurdly stark. With a stated goal to sound like “Antelope playing Discharge”, Landowner’s diamond hard structures, repetitious instrumentals and caricatured hardcore make space for lyrics that reflect on the global systems our lives are tangled in and the dark absurdities we take for granted.
Landowner’s fourth Born Yesterday full length Escape the Compound focuses on the powerful grips manipulators and reality-deniers have on their victims, examining the social, political and interpersonal damage of cult-like influence and control. “A lot of the lyrics focus on cult manipulators and narcissists: falling victim to their toxic dynamics, and the difficulty of escaping their grip” says Shaw. From climate change deniers and conspiracy theorists to deceptive narcissists and actual cult leaders, Landowner explores the ubiquity of modern unreality through evocative imagery and a keen sense of awareness. The band’s plain instrumentation sheds and subverts hardcore punk’s noisy veil in favor of a direct, unswerving examination of these themes.
Written and recorded following the release of 2020’s Consultant, Escape the Compound finds Landowner leaning into the studio through deeper experimentation with a wider palette of sounds. The group’s lineup of Josh Owsley (bass), Elliot Hughes (guitar), Jeff Gilmartin (guitar), Josh Daniel (drums) and Dan Shaw played often since coming together in 2017. But with pandemic restrictions in place, the making of Escape the Compound became a much more insular pursuit, one where the mixing and mastering process helped turn the band’s most varied batch of material into a cohesive, thematic collection of songs.
Album opener “Witch Museum” is a collage of dark Massachusetts historical imagery. The song evokes a kind of cult dynamic traveling like a shadow through time, where dark absurdities are taken for granted, toxic behaviors are excused, and normalcy begins to shift. The line “Gail's behavior has changed” casts fictional “Gail” as the dark manipulator, whose whim we’re at the mercy of. She sheds her toxic behavior and the crisis finally ends - “and peace returns to the Commonwealth”- an absurdity, given that cult leaders and narcissists rarely seem to change.
By considering the past, Landowner sheds light on the present. The band challenges egomaniacs reluctant to accept an uncomfortable reality with both cynicism and concern. The literal landowner described in “Heat Stroke” collapses in exhaustion, cooked by a suffocating bass line and sizzling hi-hats. “You'd rather die of heat stroke than to let anybody see you change your mind,” Shaw gasps, later pleading with the character in “Floodwatch” to “please reconsider” their brazen stubbornness as they plunge through the rising waters of a flooded road.
The character in “Swimmer of Note” refuses to admit their miscalculations, instead doubling down on an ever-growing and increasingly-unsteady tower of lies. The sneering “Damning Evidence” sets a scene all too familiar: a smoking gun scenario with zero consequences. Shaw’s exaggerated vocal refrains and sarcastic inflections mock false hope: “how will they be expected to keep their minds intact, at the shock of simply hearing such damning evidence?”
“Beyond the Darkened Library” creaks open a secret passageway into a dimly lit, endless labyrinth of conspiracy theories, in which the character becomes hopelessly lost. “Aftermath” sounds the alarms: “stare so long that you start getting used to it; one glance says you should never get used to it.” The pair of “Tactics” tracks express what Shaw calls “an interpersonal microcosm of the album’s themes.”
Perhaps the most ambitious arc on Escape the Compound loosely begins with the title track. The subject in “Escape the Compound” gradually recognizes their own victimhood and plans a calculated flight from the “captivating shepherd” – hop the fence, flee, and regain autonomy. As the narrator escapes their stifling and abusive cult microcosm, a much grander existential timeline begins to appear. “Thousands of Years in Fast Forward” narrates a psychedelic surrender to the shared human experience through space and time, an ego-death adjacent to our ancestry, our own existence, and the before and after. “At the site of the crater, molecular hands unclasp molecular hands as you lose conditioning,” Shaw sings on the title track, “Your grandmother's garden. Your grandmother's kitchen. Your grandmother's primordial ocean.” It’s a profound actualizing glimpse into a true, forgotten reality and a startling reconnection with the self.
Covet is fronted by Yvette Young who is revered by guitarists around the world for her mastery of the innovative two-handed tapping technique. Yvette says of the album - "I'd like to be honest - this album process was one of the most challenging ever, and none of the reasons for that was related to the actual music. There was a moment where it felt like it might not come out ever...but I think having patience and faith does pay off. I named this record "catharsis" because the word to me feels like a triumphant exodus. No matter the dire circumstances, music is one of those things that I’ve always needed to create to survive (in all senses of the word), and time and time again, I turn to guitar and songwriting as my outlet to uplift and feel like I have control over something in this chaotic universe. The overall theme of the album is escapism and fantasy, which also feels fitting because in a lot of ways, we use music and art to escape our anxiety, our pain, and our sometimes oppressive realities...to travel to universes that we so badly wished existed. Music is so powerful for this reason because it can be so transformative- it uplifts and empathizes with you without needing to say a single word. With this music, I wanted to tell a concise but dense story that goes many places- not necessarily all joyful. I have been working on it down to the last minute, and in less than 30 minutes, I'd like to take you to all the magical places I’ve been and show you all the highs and lows that I've had the privilege of experiencing during the last 2 years of creating this body of work."
Second album from West London, singer-songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist, Oscar Lang. A split from his childhood sweetheart sent Lang spiralling, dramatically changing the course of the follow-up to the psychedelic-tinged fuzzy-rock of his 2021 debut Chew The Scenery at the same time as driving Lang into the most creatively fruitful period of his short career. The diversion has resulted in Look Now, an astounding record that makes Lang’s previous output sound like he was just testing the waters. Chew The Scenery and three melodically-breezy EPs that preceded it introduced Lang as a songwriter of rare talents but here is where he really lays down a marker, emerging with an album that takes in playful hooks, poignant lyricism, orchestral swells, ba-roque-pop instrumentation, a record that’s expansive but never overblown, intimate at the same time as being epic. It is his definitive artistic statement. Formats; CD, LP
Anlässlich ihres 40-jährigen Bestehens präsentieren die kanadischen Progressive-Sci-Fi-Metal-Innovatoren VOIVOD ihre spezielle Jubiläumsveröffentlichung "Morgöth Tales", die frische Studio(neu)aufnahmen der aktuellen Bandbesetzung von 9 speziell ausgewählten, nicht so offensichtlichen Stücken aus dem erstklassigen und extrem vielfältigen Backkatalog der Band (zwischen 1984 und 2003) sowie einen brandneuen Song im Titeltrack des Albums, "Morgöth Tales", enthält. "Morgöth Tales" enthält außerdem spezielle Gastauftritte der ehemaligen VOIVOD-Mitglieder Eric "E-Force" Forrest (E-Force, Gesang bei "Rise") und Jason "Jason" Newsted (ex-Metallica / Flotsam And Jetsam, Bass bei "Rebel Robot"). "Morgöth Tales" ist der Nachfolger von VOIVODs 15. (!) hochgelobten und für den Juno Award nominierten Studioalbum "Synchro Anarchy" (2022), das in Deutschland Platz 7 der offiziellen Albumverkaufscharts erreichte. Die Veröffentlichung ist erhältlich als Ltd. CD Jewelcase im O-Card mit Bonustrack (eine Coverversion von "Home" von Public Image Ltd) und als 180g Vinyl LP mit 4-seitigem LP-Booklet. Und verpasst nicht VOIVODs Tournee zum 40-jährigen Jubiläum der "Morgöth Tales"...
The Hague based producer ''Deniro'' is responsible for the 3rd installment in the ''Oblique Music'' series. This time around the 12'' consists of 4 club cuts that all showcase a different ambiance throughout. Label owner Ben Buitendijk is carefully curating the sound for his recently established imprint and Deniro's (extinct) Penguin inspired package definitely matches with the label's previous escapades. ''Kairaku 1'' is a dubbed out whirlwind which uses emotive drum patterns and hazy reverbs that blend together in the most perfect way and cause for a inspiring atmosphere to occur instantly. ''Kairaku 2'' is a more classic sounding cut which maintains originality through ''Deniro's'' signature drum patterns and the constantly changing chords that make this effort one of the more special ones. The B side opens up with ''Kairaku 3''. This is again a dubbed out cut that is drenched with percussive sounds that would suit perfect in the more adventurous settings. ''Kairaku 4'' is filled with interesting textures and progresses in a minor but riveting way.
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In 2003, Mental Disorder was inaugurated with its first e.p. "Psychiatric Hospital". Twenty years later Mental Disorder is pleased to present "Scoundrel", a release consisting of 3 tracks, all of them written and conceived by label founder Reeko and Surgeon, the living legend and one of the most influential artists of all time. Undoubtedly the most special, risky and different release in the whole MD catalogue so far.
On this release, we find rogue rhythms at 175bpm bordering on drum n' bass, gangster bass sequences with funk influences and eerie atmospheres, healing melodies and hypnotizing riffs that seem to come from vanished civilizations.
Anthony Child and Juan Rico bring to life the twenty-sixth in the mental disorder catalogue, giving a truly unexpected musical twist.
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BERLIN PARTY AWAY WILL CELEBRATE A DECADE OF EVENTS WITH LABEL COMPILATION "AWAY 10 YEARS" AND THREE WEEKEND PARTIES
"AWAY 10 Years" features 10 tracks from a family-and-friends lineup of influential powerhouses like Moodymann, Move D, Axel Boman, Lady Starlight, Mark Broom, Inland, and well-known talents Discrete Circuit, Eluize, AWAY Soundsystem, and Attila & Blivv
Founded by DJ and producer Discrete Circuit in 2012, AWAY was born in Berlin out of a purist desire to establish a party for timeless house and techno music. In the early days, AWAY moved from multiple in- and outdoor venues to showcases across Europe to ultimately finding a stable home base at the About Blank club in 2015. Quickly they earned a reputation as a must-attend event series without losing its underground credibility. The AWAY crew did not shy away from booking many veterans and legends of the genre, some of whom are now on the compilation "AWAY 10 Years"
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Numero Group tauchen mit "Seafaring Strangers: Private Yacht" erneut in die Welt der amerikanischen Privatpressungen ein. Nach ihren musikalischen Exkursionen zu den Hexen und Zauberern von Darkscorch, den Geächteten des Cosmic Americana, neben 'Ladies From the Canyon' und ihren 'Lonesome Heroes', ist es an der Zeit, es einfacher anzugehen. Diesmal ist der Sound weicher und glatter, die Mitspieler allesamt kamen aus den Welten von Jazz, Folk, Rock und Soul, und hier spielen sie mit enormen Popappeal. Manchmal klassifiziert als West Coast Sound oder AOR - und später Yacht Rock - sind die Kompasspunkte unserer Private Yacht Expedition die blauäugigen Harmonien von Hall und Oates, der Kokain-bestäubten Fender Rhodes von Michael McDonald und die Combover-Streicher von James Taylor.
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'Jump Into Love' is the new album from Half Japanese, true DIY noise-rock royalty, led by the ever-effervescent Jad Fair. It's a meeting of minds, a coming together from the world's favourite indie-alt-rock outsiders. Atypically out there and off-kilter, the album wears its heart on its sleeve through a cascade of new, dark and brooding songs from the band who would be king. Loved by Kurt Cobain, Daniel Johnston, Penn Jillette and outsiders everywhere, Half Japanese continue their quest for answers; creating a soundscape for a post-zombie land where bells chime and it's OK to say "Yes". It's another adventure; series 20 from an introspective parallel world where the super prolific Jad Fair cogitates on life, love, giants, the possessed and even bigger issues that simply swell the brain. Musing on the writing process, Jad explains "I feel a need to do music and do song writing. It's something I really miss when I'm not doing it. There's a certain amount of tranquillity that's obtained from the fact that you can be working on songs each day. I think you use that certain portion of your brain that is otherwise not used. I kind of kind of prefer using it than not using it." Half Japanese currently includes Jad with John Sluggett, Gilles-Vincent Rieder, Mick Hobbs and Jason Willett, a veritable who's who of DIY indie culture. 'Jump Into Love' was recorded at Tempo House, Baltimore, Russian Recording, Bloomington Indiana, Studio de la Trappe, Donneville France and la Casamurada, Tarragona Spain. The album was mixed by long time Half Japanese sparring partner Jason Willett at his home in Baltimore, Maryland. "Amid hard-riff jams, swinging ditties, lovelorn ballads and other catchy gems, Jad persistently breathes life into the Half Japanese" NPR "One of indie rock's most reliable sources of positivity" Pitchfork